Josiah Wise’s music as serpentwithfeet has long explored romantic moments, weaving abstract tones and melodies with a tender sweetness. For his theatrical dance and musical performance “Heart of Brick”, he uses the moment that two men fall in love in a gay dance hall, and in the process captures the multi-generational spirit of the Black queer community. Collaborating with MacArthur Fellow Wu Tsang and choreographer Raja Feather Kelly, Wise combines music created for the performance with both older songs and material from the forthcoming serpentwithfeet album Grip, with the aim of embodying the sweetness and sincerity at serpent’s core.

Beatbox House performance funded by a grant from the Omomuki Foundation’s Live Music for Dance program.